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Paralogue 4: Rides With Wyverns
The Shepherds march with a gloomy air about them. Fortunately, a certain newcomer has had the idea to recruit some others to roam around lightening the mood. Augustus: Hey, you. Uhhh, Dakota, right? Dakota: What do you need? Augustus: You seem like a fun dude. Wanna go around and tell some jokes with me? Dakota: I can try...my brand of humor is a bit different from most people's though. I don't think they'll all understand it. Augustus: But the fact that you tried will raise morale. I'm sure of it. Dakota: Okay, I can try I guess. Augustus: Awesome! Who else... Danica won't help...Spencer has as much of a sense of humor as a stone statue. Bohl would take ten years to tell a joke. Ah, that guy! If my dad's anything to go by, dark mages always have the best sense of humor. Hey, you! Aloasa: What? Augustus: Wanna go tell some jokes? Aloasa: No thanks. I'm good. Augustus: Aw, why not? Aloasa: I'm not big into the joke thing. Augustus: Man, okay. I'll go ask someone else, then. Aloasa: Thanks for understanding. Augustus: Okay, maybe I was wrong. That guys gave me the creeps. Oh, you! Sam: Me? Augustus: Yeah, you! How are you with jokes? Sam: I like to think I'm pretty decent at comedy. Why? Augustus: We need to lighten this army's mood. I need some help telling some jokes. I can't entertain the whole group at once on a march like this. Sam: That's some good thinking. I guess I could help out a bit. Pika: Oh, let me help! If how often we make each other laugh in private is any indication, we're comedy masters together. Sam: I guess that sounds good. Augustus: Yeah! Augustus' Traveling Comedy Troupe is off to a good start. Do you know who else here tells good jokes? Pika: Hmm, we've had some good back-and-forths with Maggie. Maybe she can help us? Sam: Nah. I like the idea of just us doing our parts. Pika: Oh, alright. Go ask Maggie anyway though, Augustus. Augustus: Thanks for the suggestion! Hey, Maggie! Maggie: What's up? Augustus: I need your help with something. Maggie: Does it need a person who can turn into a dragon? Augustus: Not necessarily, but... Maggie: Then can you ask someone else? I'm spending some time with my family right now. Kelsie: Hi, by the way. Augustus: Hey Kesh. I see you made it. Kelsie: I sure did. Augustus: I'll leave you to it, then. Sorry to interrupt. Sarah: You're fine. Kelsie: So, is it true manaketes live forever? Maggie: Not forever, but pretty damn long. I'm...a little over 1700? That might be right. Anyway, that's still pretty young for manakete standards. It's the equivalent of early twenties for humans. Kelsie: So you'll live longer than all of us. Maggie: Yeah...that's why I want to spend as much time with you guys as possible. I don't want to spend my later years wishing I had. Kelsie: Man, that's sad to think about. Sarah: A little bit, but we really shouldn't dwell on that. Everybody else is sad enough as it is. We don't need to throw our problems into the mix. Maggie: Your mom...er, your other mom's all about keeping everything hush hush. No PDA or anything. Kelsie: Maybe that's for the best. Meanwhile, Augustus approaches Danica and Julius, whose heads are hanging lowest of anyone's. Augustus: Hey, Danica. Danica: What do you want? Augustus: Er, I just wanted to say hi under less...unfortunate circumstances. Danica: Hi. Is that enough? Can you leave now? Augustus: Hey, wait a minute. Why don't you want to catch up with me? Danica: Because I'm kind of in the middle of a lot of shit, okay? Augustus: Alright, alright...and here I thought Spencer was the stick in the mu— Julius: Dude, leave her alone, okay? Go fuckin' bug someone else. Augustus: Fine, fine! I'm leaving already. Julius: Some people have no manners. I know how it feels to be friendzoned, but you just gotta back off sometimes, you know? Danica: Father, please don't ever say that term again. Augustus: Those guys need some serious cheering up, stat. Maybe I could snag some happy juice and give them some. Then again, a drunk Danica is probably not something I want any part of. Bohl: Hello my friend. Are you here to share some funny antidotes with us? Augustus: Anecdotes. And nah. I'm just trying to get some of the sad people around here to relax a bit. Everyone's so gloomy and serious! Bohl: Oh, you have been with talking to Danica, yes? Augustus: No? Yes? I think. Bohl: Well, I can imagine she won't want to be partaking in the cheerful for a long time. Augustus: Why do you say that? Bohl: Because Bohl knows how she is feeling. Augustus: Wait...what? Bohl: Bohl's...my father died shortly after I got here. Augustus: Oh no! Bohl: Yes...It is very hard. Coming back to stop everyone from dying only to watch it be happening anyway. Bohl has never felt more of a failure than when he had to... Augustus: Hey, you've said enough, old buddy. How about you help Danica out? You know what she's going through, so maybe you can talk her through it. Bohl: I like your thinking. Bohl will do that. Augustus: Thanks Bohl! Nearby, Spencer is sticking close to his parents, observing the activities of the other Shepherds he brought back. Spencer: Everything's coming together nicely. We only have a few more unaccounted for. Hopefully we can get to them in time... Everything is happening much faster this time. Is that because of us coming back? I guess there's no way to know for sure until it comes to be time for the massacre... Florence: Hey, Spencer? Can I ask you something? Or are you too lost in thought? Spencer: What? No, I'm fine. What is it you need, Exalt? Florence: In the future, did me and Jimmy have any children? Spencer: Why, yes you did. One. Florence: Oh, really? Did they come back with you? Spencer: Hopefully. Florence: What're they like? Are they like me? Spencer: They're...not very much like you, I don't think. They're very skilled at they do, but you two...well, you'll have to see for yourself. Florence: Aw, man... I hope that's soon! Green: No way. I'm getting to meet my kid next. I call it. Chloe: You're assuming an awful lot here, don't you think? Green: What's that supposed to mean? Chloe: You assume future us ever actually did anything. Green: Why wouldn't it be fair to assume that? Chloe: I'm just saying don't get your hopes up too much. Maybe we didn't even have a kid. Isn't that right Spencer? Spencer: You did, Aunt Chloe. Chloe: Damn it Spencer, you were supposed to help me tease him. Spencer: Uh, sorry. Green: Hey hold on a minute, I know where we are... Knifez: Where are we? Green: We're heading into Wyvern Valley! Joos: What's that? Green: It's the largest sanctuary for wild wyverns in the world. It's one of my favorite places to be. No overly crowded cities, no garbage dumps making the place ugly, and poachers only come in occasionally. My wyvern was bred there especially for me. Joos: Oh, neat! Bella: We're not here to sight-see, Green. We're going in and out. Knifez: Could we go around so Green doesn't go mating his wyvern with other hot dude wyverns? Bella: No, unfortunately. The fastest way to the capital is straight through. Knifez: Damn it, alright. Elsewhere, a girl rides her mount into the Wyvern Valley. She pats her wyvern's head and shushes it soothingly. ???: It's alright, boy. We're almost there. I'm excited to meet the other wyverns too. They're bound to be better company than those bozos. Moments later, she sees a group of wyverns approaching her. She smiles, thinking they're wild wyverns to make friends with, but her expression falls when she sees that they're all mounted by angry looking thugs. Thug: Hey look, a little lady! Here to donate your wyvern to a good cause, girly? ???: No, in fact I'm here to visit the wyvern. You better hope none of the ones you're riding are stolen, because if I figure out you took defenseless animals from a sanctuary for them, I'm going to make you wish you were never born. Thug: Oh, I'm so scared! Ha. Like we'd steal any animals from here. The wyverns around here are so timid that the only thing they're useful for is their skin. ???: YOU MONSTERS! The girl pulls an axe on the group and brushes her blue hair out of her face. ???: You're going down. The wyvern-bound thugs circle her, keeping her surrounded. Thug: You really want to take on all of us on your own? What, you gotta death wish? ???: That's unimportant. I'm going to protect my wyvern and his brethren if it costs me my life Thug: Ha! I guess your wish is coming true today! The man lifts his own sword high and prepares to begin battling the girl, but just then, an arrow embeds itself into his wrist, causing him to drop the sword and cry out in pain. Thug: Shit, the brat's got backup! Everyone, spread out! I'll get reinforcements. The leader flies off and the archer who got him reveals himself. Dakota: I saw you were in trouble. May we be of assistance? ???: Who's we? The Shepherds are close behind Dakota and at the sight of the gang, draw their weapons. Pika: Nice shot, Dakota. Dakota: You know it. Joos: Okay guys, lots of wyvern riders, it seems. Arrows, wind magic, and anything good against beasts is recom— ???: NO! Joos: Wha...? ???: You're not to hurt the dragons! They're innocent. Only kill the people riding them. Joos: Uh, alright. Um, challenge mode? Only kill the riders. Healers, if you see an injured dragon, help it out. Dakota, Pika, think you can shoot some of the riders from their mounts? Pika: Is the sky blue? Dakota: Sometimes the sky's grey. Sam: And technically it's black half the time. Dakota: It's white if there's enough cloud cov— Pika: Oh my god, yes we can! Joos: Alright then. We'll protect the wyverns to the best of our ability. ???: Thank you. The original gang of thugs that attacked the girl aren't too hard to dispatch. It's a simple matter of waiting for Pika and Dakota to snipe them off their mounts and then attack while they're stumbling to recover. However, the battle gets a bit harder when the leader of the gang appears with many reinforcements. The number of enemies gets too high to continue relying on Pika and Dakota to shoot them down, so Anna chips in by using the Levin Sword to call down lightning bolts to knock people off their wyverns. At one point during the battle, Knifez finds himself battling alongside the girl on the wyvern. Knifez: Alright, who are you? ???: Call me Janice. I'm...not from around here. Knifez: Alright, works for me. You can call me Knifez. I'm the prince of around here. Janice: UNCLE KNIFEZ??? Knifez: Ah! What?! Janice: Oh my god, I actually found you? I didn't think I'd actually ever find you guys. Knifez: Why did you call me uncle? Janice: Erm, I'm your niece. Knifez: Florence...oh, I get it. You came back from the future with Spencer, didn't you? Janice: Yep...er, yes sir. My mission was to find you, but when I didn't, I sort of started to wander. I found this valley and thought it would be a nice place to be. Knifez: I see. Well, family reunions can wait until after the battle's over. Janice: R-right. The two part ways to continue battling, Nearby, Bella and her pegasus face down two wyvern riders at once. The wyverns are disgruntled and not used to being ordered around, so Bella and her speedy, well-tamed pegasus outmaneuver their foes with ease. Bella knocks the other rides off their mounts and frees the wyverns with kind words. She then runs the thugs through with ease. Elsewhere, Danica half-heartedly fights her opponents, not really paying much attention to what's going on. Julius: Danica! Are you alright? Danica: No. Julius: You're fighting like you're hurt. Danica: I'm not hurt, but I'm not alright. Julius: Look, I understand. Really, I do. It's hard for me to keep fighting. Knowing that Kate's not at my side anymore almost makes it unbearable, but— Danica: You don't understand! She throws her sword to the ground in a fit of rage, startling Julius. Danica: I came back specifically so you and mom wouldn't die, and now I've failed! I'm the best damn thief in the world but I can't even keep my own mother alive! Do you know how hard it is to live with that?! Why did I even come back in the first place? Julius: Whoa...do you think maybe this isn't the best time to be having a heart-to-heart like this? Danica stomps her foot angrily while someone approaches Julius from behind... Danica: You don't understand! I had to deal with knowing my parents were dead and there was nothing I could do about it. And then when I was given the chance to change your fates and I couldn't! I was helpless all over again! Julius: … Danica: ...Dad? Julius stumbles forward and kneels down on the ground to reveal a small knife sticking out of his back. Danica: FATHER! The man who stabbed him sneers at Danica, who scoops up her sword and jumps over her father's injured form to attack the would-be assassin. A short but fierce skirmish that ends in a slit neck and Julius' attacker falling to the ground. Julius: Get...a healer. Danica: I'm on it. Rachel!! Rachel: What's the matter? Danica: My father....Julius. He's been stabbed! Rachel: I'm on it. Knifez, cover me. Knifez: I've got your back. Rachel kneels down next to Julius and tenderly pulls out the knife. Rachel: Alright. It's not a terribly bad wound. Luckily it was a small knife, so it didn't do too much damage. Julius: Urgh... Rachel: I'll be here a while, it seems. Danica: Is he gonna be okay? Rachel: He'll be fine. I just have to take my time to ensure that. Danica: Okay... Rachel: You join Knifez in watching my back. Danica: Right. After nearly all of the wyvern poachers have been wiped out, the end of the battle finds Janice staring down the leader of the gang of wyvern riders. His hand is mostly fixed, but he still holds his sword with a shaky hand. Thug: So you're back for round two? Janice: I won't need backup this time! Mostly because you don't have any backup left. Thug: Heh. Like it matters. Striking you down will be victory enough, even if your new friends take their revenge. Which, let's face it, they won't care enough to. Janice: You're gonna regret saying that! Janice charges at the man, but his wyvern quickly flies out of the way of her axe. She growls and gives chase, only connecting with his sword every once in a while. He thrusts his sword at her and she narrowly avoids having her head run through. She retaliates with a swing of her axe and manages to knock his sword out of his hand. In a move of desperation, he orders his wyvern to lunge at hers. The dragons snap and snarl at each other while Janice struggles to keep the situation under control. Janice: Hey, calm down! Focus on the guy, not the dragon. Jimmy: Aaaaaand it's time for the assist. Jimmy hurls a javelin at the thug, piercing his chest and causing him to fall from his mount. The wyverns are so high up that if the javelin didn't kill him, the sickening thud when he hit the ground does. Unfortunately, his mount continues trying to fight Janice's. The fight gets to be too much and Janice falls from her wyvern's back with a scream. Her wyvern immediately abandons the battle to save her, but is pursued closely by the enemy. Janice is caught by her wyvern just in time to see a green tornado sweep the other dragon away. Janice: Wha... Chloe: Sorry. If I didn't, I would have had to watch it kill you. Janice: It's alright, I guess. Chloe: You can't save them all. Trust me, I know. Janice: I understand. Knifez: Alright, well that settles that. Let's get moving now. Janice: Okay. Let's. Sam: You're coming with us? Janice: Well, yeah. I'm kinda here for that reason. Spencer: Yeah, she's with me. Janice: Oh, hey Spence. Still rocking the ugly blue hair, I see. Spencer: Your hair is the same shade, Janice. Janice: Yeah, but I didn't choose this. You chose to change your hair color. Spencer: I had to make people believe I was Ike. Janice: I believe you're a dork. Before the Shepherds can get a move on, they must make sure Julius is okay. Rachel: Are you feeling better? Julius: Urgh, yeah. It still hurts like a bitch, though. Rachel: That'll happen. Just take it easy and sit the next battle out, okay? Julius: Gladly... Danica: Oh dad...I'm so sorry. Julius: You're good. Knifez: So, what did we learn today? Danica: That I suck at paying attention when I'm sad? Julius: No, I don't think that's it. Knifez: Danica, you told Rachel all about what caused this, and she told me. So what we should have learned today is that there's still something worth fighting for. Kate may be dead, but that's not a free pass to just quit. I've learned the hard way that you can't save everyone, and the people you can't save would throttle you if you stopped fighting because of them. Danica: Yes sir, Knifez. Julius: That's a good lesson, man. Danica: I'll remember this. I'll fight for you, dad. I'll keep you safe if it costs me my life. Once they're finally on the move, Florence approaches Janice for the first time, with Jimmy by her side. Florence: Alright, so what's the deal. Whose are you? Janice: Wh-what? Florence: I could see your blue mop from The Domain. Now which of us do you belong to? Me or Knifez? Or did you dye your hair like Spencer apparently did? Janice: Pfft, I'' wish I could dye my hair. I hate this shade. But uh, since you asked...I'm your child. '''Florence': And your name's Janice? Janice: Yes. Florence: Man, future me must have been drunk off her ass when she named you! Janice: ...Thanks. I think. Jimmy: So you're my...daughter? Janice: Yes. Jimmy: Wow. That's...a lot to take in. Janice: I'm sure it is. You'll get used to it. Chase: No you won't. I still haven't. > PARALOGUE 5: WINGS OF JUSTICE < SUPPORTS Current Party The Shepherds *Knifez. Great Lord. Captain of the Shepherds and Prince of Waydrn. Treats his men firmly but fairly. *Grace. War Cleric. An affectionate and cheeky Shepherd with a possessive streak. *Joos. Grandmaster. A traveler with no memory of the past, but a gift for tactics. *Sam. Grandmaster. The Shepherds' original, no-nonsense Tactician. *Florence. Great Lord. A Shepherd and Knifez's sister. Always ready to lend an ass-kicking. *Jimmy. Great Knight. A quiet Shepherd who knows exactly when to get to work. *Pika. Sniper. A peppy Shepherd, always ready to follow her Tactician's command *Dakota. Assassin. A formidable Waydrnite thief with a grim outlook on things. *DJ. Swordmaster. A noble from Frar who knows his way around a sword. *Chloe. Valkyrie. The downright kindest Noble Frar ever did see. *Green. Wyvern Knight. A funloving Tostian dracoknight. Has a penchant for stabbing first and asking questions later. *Bella. Falcon Knight. A Tostian “noble” whose love of her country is rivaled only by her love of her horse. *Chase. Mercenary. A Sellsword with a love of tall tales and romance. *Signele. Taguel. Last surviving inhabitant of The Domain. Also a giant bunny sometimes. *Julius. Dancer. A gifted dancer with a flair for philandering and caffeine. *Maggie. Manakete. An innocent Manakete with a penchant for theatrics. *Sarah. Wyvern Rider. A gifted Wyvern Rider who prefers the term "realistic." *Kayla. Mage. A hyperactive mage who can't wait to prove herself as more than just a kid. *Aloasa. Dark Mage. A dour Tostian with a knack for curses and hovering. *Anna. Trickster. A world-traveling merchant who loves money and big spenders. *Rachel. War Cleric. Constantly picks fights, but is better at healing than punching. *Heroi. Mercenary. Really good at what he does, but goes unnoticed until he's gone. *Joanne. Cavalier. A quiet knight who waits for the perfect moment to speak up. *Daniel. Hero. A Frarian warrior who hopes for the best but expects the worst. *Taylor. Knight. A horse-loving girl who's incidentally really bad at riding horses. Future Children *Spencer. Myrmidon. An enigmatic man who thirsts for a better world. *Danica. Trickster. A cunning, flirty girl who could rob even the greatest thieves blind. *Bohl. Mage. An confusing youth with incredible intelligence and not so great speech patterns. *Jayde. Taguel. A hyperactive Taguel obsessed with the goal of making the species thrive. *Kelsie. Troubadour. A lazy, adopted child who was given everything before the world burned. *Augustus. Fighter. A fun-loving warrior with sharp wit and even sharper axes. *Janice. Wyvern Rider. A rebellious Wyvern Rider with more love for her wyvern than herself. Information *This paralogue was originally posted to the Total Drama Writers' Forum here. Category:Story Category:Paralogues